Debate Revives as 9/11 Dust Is Called Fatal

[Bozita]

Why is there no mention of the doctored EPA air quality reports?


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/14/nyregion/14dust.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

April 14, 2006

Debate Revives as 9/11 Dust Is Called Fatal
By ANTHONY DePALMA

In the cold, clinical language of the autopsy report of a retired New York City detective that was released this week, there were words that thousands of New Yorkers have come to anticipate and to fear.

"It is felt with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the cause of death in this case was directly related to the 9/11 incident," stated the report from the medical examiner's office in Ocean County, N.J.

That "reasonable degree of medical certainty" — coroner language for "as sure as I can be" — provides the first official link made by a medical expert between the hazardous air at ground zero after the trade center collapse and the death of someone who worked in the rescue effort.

The report has reopened old wounds, giving lawsuits brought by first responders and downtown residents new evidence to back up allegations that the toxic mixture of dust and fumes at ground zero was deadly.

more...

[Punkingal]

1. I have never doubted it was deadly.

I am sure there was asbestos in the air, and it is a killer. My husband's union does asbestos abatement, and they have to wear respirators. Many more will die, I think. Another sad side effect of 9/11.

[Lost4words]

2. Only a fool would think that air was safe!

But our beloved government and EPA assured us there were no negative effects, YEA, FOR THEM MAYBE!

I am so glad they are looking out for our safety and welfare.

[paparush]

3. No one could have predicted that the air would be laden with asbestos..

and tons of toxic debris. Nobody could have predited that.....

[UpInArms]

5. White House ordered false assurances on air quality, report says

Published on Saturday, August 23, 2003 by the Long Island, NY Newsday

EPA Misled Public on 9/11 Pollution

NEW YORK -- In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, the White House instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was not available.

That finding is included in a report released Friday by the Office of the Inspector General of the EPA. It noted that some of the agency's news releases in the weeks after the attack were softened before being released to the public: Reassuring information was added, while cautionary information was deleted.

"When the EPA made a September 18 announcement that the air was 'safe' to breathe, it did not have sufficient data and analyses to make such a blanket statement," the report says. "Furthermore, the White House Council on Environmental Quality influenced . . . the information that EPA communicated to the public through its early press releases when it convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones."

On the morning of Sept. 12, according to the report, the office of then-EPA Administrator Christie Whitman issued a memo: "All statements to the media should be cleared through the NSC (National Security Council in the White House) before they are released." The 165-page report compares excerpts from EPA draft statements to the final versions, including these:

The draft statement contained a warning from EPA scientists that homes and businesses near ground zero should be cleaned by professionals. Instead, the public was told to follow instructions from New York City officials.

Another draft statement was deleted; it raised concerns about "sensitive populations" such as asthma patients, the elderly and people with underlying respiratory diseases.

...more...

Add all these and future deaths to the list that this mal-administration has caused, will cause and does cause.

[flamin lib]

4. Connect the dots . . .

Below is a statement from Christi Todd Whitman, head of the EPA at the time of the 9/11 attacks, released September 18, 2001, and two other related articles:

“We are very encouraged that the results from our monitoring of air quality and drinking water conditions in both New York and near the Pentagon show that the public in these areas is not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances," Whitman said. "Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breath and their water is safe to drink," she added.
http://www.epa.gov/wtc/stories/headline_091801.htm
======================

Published on Saturday, August 23, 2003 by the Long Island, NY Newsday
EPA Misled Public on 9/11 Pollution
White House ordered false assurances on air quality, report says
by Laurie Garrett
NEW YORK -- In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, the White House instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was not available.

That finding is included in a report released Friday by the Office of the Inspector General of the EPA. It noted that some of the agency's news releases in the weeks after the attack were softened before being released to the public: Reassuring information was added, while cautionary information was deleted.
"When the EPA made a September 18 announcement that the air was 'safe' to breathe, it did not have sufficient data and analyses to make such a blanket statement," the report says. "Furthermore, the White House Council on Environmental Quality influenced . . . the information that EPA communicated to the public through its early press releases when it convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones."
=========================

Cop Dies of Illness Linked to WTC Recovery
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 AP

NEW YORK — The death of a 34-year-old detective who developed respiratory disease after working at ground zero is directly related to the Sept. 11 attacks, a coroner said in the first known ruling that attributes a death to recovery work at the World Trade Center site.

James Zadroga’s family released his autopsy results Tuesday, saying they are proof of the first death of a city police officer related to the response effort after the terrorist attacks.

"It is felt with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the cause of death in this case was directly related to the 9/11 incident," wrote Gerard Breton, a pathologist at the Ocean County (N.J.) medical examiner's office.
====================

Thousands of First Responders are showing symptoms of Mesothelioma and suing for health care. The first responders knew that what they were doing was dangerous. They knew that what they were breathing was full of dangerous toxins. They did their jobs anyway. They deserve the help.

In the weeks following, the average New Yorker walking to work, cleaning the dust from their apartment, going about their everyday life without so much as a dust mask didn’t know. They didn’t know because the EPA was instructed to lie to them. They don’t deserve to get sick but they will.

Bush lies and people die.

[AnnieBW]

6. Well, DUH!

Insert "Drawn Together"-style extended "DUUUUUH" here. How much asbestos was in that dust cloud, let alone heavy metals, etc. I get breathing problems if I'm just around cigarette smoke. The air in Lower Manhattan was 1000x worse. And those workers were breathing it 24/7.

[Peace Patriot]

7. I'd sure like to know what-all was in that dust--given the impossible

melting of those massive steel buildings from the small amount of jet fuel that was left over--that didn't burn off in the big black clouds at the top--and the smoldering mass of molten steel that was cooking undergound. What could have brought those buildings down like that? Were there any reliable air tests?